I Hope They Get To Me In Time
by AngelEstrada
Summary: Tony has an encounter with an intoxicated driver on his way home from work, but will he make it home safely? **Rated T for traumatic scenes**
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Tony has an encounter with an intoxicated driver on his way home from work, but will he make it home safely?  
**Author's Notes:** I am Tony DiNozzo's keeper. *Gets headslapped* Huh? Was I dreaming again? ...Okay, fine- NCIS and Tony DiNozzo don't belong to me, and I do not own the rights to them sadly. ;) I just like playing with them. ;) ...All ideas belong to Angel Estrada at Stokes Fanficz, so please don't plagerize! ...Oh yeah, and this is completely un-beta'd. :) ******* I started writing this 'song fic' back in September of 2008. It was inspired by Darius Rucker's "I Hope They Get To Me In Time". (All lyrics in this fic are property of Darius Rucker and I don't own any rights to them, nor do I profit from them). I was very hesitant to post this fic (It's still not completed), but I figured I'd give it a go. Rated T for traumatic scenes. Feedback (As well as Con-Crit) is very much welcomed. :)

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"_I'll see you tomorrow, Boss," Tony smiled as he waved good-bye._

_Gibbs returned the gesture. "Good-night, DiNozzo," he nodded, raising the cup of steaming black liquid to his lips, eyeing Tony from above the rim._

Gibbs said good-night. It wasn't his usual good-night via a nod either. He verbalized it. Tony couldn't expunge the goofy grin from his face as he walked towards the elevator, finally accomplishing his goal of getting a verbal acknowledgement from the man he most admired as he finished his duties for the day. Gibbs didn't believe in good-byes, or good-nights for that matter, never wanting to hear them for fear that they'd be someone's last words. Tonight was different. It just felt right.

"No, I'm serious, Nick," he chuckled, looking in all directions before switching lanes. "Yeah, she totally slipped me her number last night." Typical Anthony DiNozzo. "Oh, no doubt. We'll both be there. See you at seven." Tony flipped his phone shut and turned on his new favorite CD, allowing it to play from the last track he'd stopped on.

"_I'm eight years old- Daddy's cuttin' my hair- Aqua Velva on his hands-  
Mama's in the kitchen- Got fried green tomatoes poppin' in the pan-  
I see a home run- A goal line- Holding my friend gettin' baptized-  
I see her beautiful face under that veil as she's walking down the aisle…"_

Tony had a half hour drive, sometimes an hour, depending on traffic. He couldn't wait to get home though, that's for sure. His best friend from Ohio State was in town, and his parents were out of town, which meant he was housesitting. Honestly, it was more like his house was watching _him_. Tony had been the first person Nick had called. They were known for their frat parties back in the day, the practical jokes they played on the underclassmen, the girls… Oh yeah, the girls. That was Tony's favorite part. He was looking forward to one girl in particular.

He hadn't dated since Jeanne, hadn't even looked, but while picking up dinner a week earlier, he'd met Brandi. Brandi had shoulder-length, dark brown hair. She was athletic, average build. She and Tony had met at her work place previously, but she didn't have the courage to spike up a conversation until last night, when she decided to hand him her number. That's when he invited her to Nick's party. He'd be picking her up at eighteen-hundred hours.

The drive was like any normal drive. Of course, tonight had to be the night that traffic was backed up bumper to bumper, the night he _had_ to get home early. Five hours later, it was twenty-one hundred hours, and Tony was stuck in the same spot he'd been stuck in five hours earlier. The CD kept repeating itself and he'd already phoned Brandi and Nick multiple times, mainly for his own sanity.

"I'm so sorry, Brandi," he told her honestly, "I promise I'll make it up to you. Promise. DiNozzos don't make promises they don't intend to keep." He smiled on the other end of the phone, and she knew it.

After another half hour, traffic began flowing normally again. Apparently, there'd been a jumper on the bridge, holding himself hostage. Thankfully, local authorities were able to talk him down. Motorists weren't too thrilled either way.

As Tony turned off the major road and onto a street much less traveled and not far from his home, he shook his head disappointedly. He hadn't planned for his night to be anything like it was. Of course, the street lights on this road had to be burned out, too. The only light illuminating his drive was that of the moon.

It wasn't a minute later, Tony looked ahead as headlights other than his own cast some light on the street in front of him.

_"…I could see the headlights swerve, so I cut the wheel to the right-  
Last thing I saw was that bottle turned up as he crossed that center line…"_

Tony's vehicle landed in a neighboring yard just a street over from his house. He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he'd avoided injury. That's when he heard tires screeching, glass shattering, and his world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Ten minutes later, his eyes fluttered open slowly, the song he'd started his drive with back on the radio.

_"…I can hear the sirens comin', smell the gasoline and smoke-  
I'm pinned against this steering wheel, pretty sure my arm is broke-  
I can see the flames and my life flashin' right before my eyes-  
I hope they get to me in time…"_

Gasping for oxygen, Tony instinctively reached for his cell phone with his free arm, dialing the one person that came to his mind first and foremost.

"Yeah, Gibbs," the voice answered.

"B-Boss," he stuttered, breathing heavily, coughing as the thick, black smoke began to surround him.

"DiNozzo? You okay, Tony?" Gibbs asked, concerned.

Tony swallowed hard. The flames were getting closer and he could smell and taste the bitterness of his own blood that was now dripping from his head. Tempted to close his eyes, he answered, "M-McGee c-can have my desk."

"Tony, what happened? Where are you?" Gibbs was starting to panic now, a trait that wasn't typically seen with him, but this was DiNozzo!

There was a loud explosion, and Tony dropped the phone. Silence followed on his end, aside from the sirens in the distance.

"Tony!" Gibbs screamed into the phone. "DiNozzo! Answer me, Tony!" Receiving no answer, he did the only thing he could think to do. "McGee! Get me a trace on DiNozzo's cell! Now!" Thankfully, McGee had been working over.

The flames had now engulfed his vehicle and Tony had been unable to free himself. He didn't want to stop fighting. His head was telling him to keep going, but his body completely shut down. He'd barely had a pulse when the fire department pulled up. He was literally fighting for his life.

Within thirty minutes, Gibbs and McGee had both showed up on scene. Firefighters were still trying to extinguish the flames.

"Federal Agents," Gibbs yelled over the madness, flashing his badge, dragging McGee with him. "That's one of my agents in that car!" They let both men through and passed on the message to EMS personnel. The other driver had already been pronounced dead at the scene forty-five minutes ago.

Both Gibbs and McGee watched in awe, silently praying for their colleague and friend. McGee's stomach couldn't handle anymore and he ran to a nearby tree, emptying the contents of his stomach. Gibbs watched closely and shook his head sadly before turning back to the scene that was unraveling before him.

McGee stood hunched over, hands on his knees, taking a few deep breaths. After finally composing himself, he made his way back to Gibbs.

"Boss, I-…" Gibbs cut him off.

"Tim," Gibbs shook his head, "Don't." He looked McGee in the eyes seriously. There was no need to apologize. He was ready to break, too. DiNozzo was the backbone of this team, aside from Gibbs. No one could picture life without the man. He might drive them crazy, but he was a good agent, a _great_ agent, and an even better person.

What seemed like an eternity later, they'd finally managed to extricate Tony once the fire was obliterated. McGee questioned whether or not it was really DiNozzo, that small bit of doubt giving him the slightest bit of hope that Tony was unharmed somewhere, even though Gibbs knew otherwise, and so did McGee. Denial sounded like the best option right now.

The man being lifted into the ambulance was wrapped in burn sheets, intubated, and the smell of burnt flesh nauseated all who were around him. He had a pulse, barely, but it was there nonetheless. Tony was bradycardic on the monitor, and two large-bore I.V.'s were established in both antecubital veins. CPR had already been initiated.

Firefighters stood on the side of the road, hands on their knees, taking a breather, praying that they'd saved another life.

The doors on the ambulance were quickly shut and the squad took off with the lights flashing and sirens blaring. Within twenty seconds, they were out of sight, their sirens in the distance.

It wasn't until that moment that Gibbs finally took the time to examine the scene. He stared blankly at Tony's charred vehicle before turning towards the pickup truck across from it, a sheet draped over the windows, nothing visible of the other driver except for an arm resting out of the driver's side window, an empty beer bottle on the ground underneath it. Gibbs ran a hand over his face and sighed, quickly blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. He couldn't let anyone see him vulnerable, especially not anyone from his team.

"Let's go," he yelled to McGee, motioning with his head for him to get in their vehicle. Those were the last words that were spoken until they pulled into the ER parking lot and made their way in, frantically searching for information on Tony's condition.

"…_Please, Lord, I'm beggin' you, don't let me go like this-  
There's so much left that I want to do- So much I don't want to miss…"_


End file.
